Clearview Vineyards

I am delighted to be invited to show at Clearview Vineyards by Frank DenDanto for the month of July. I hope you can come by and see the flags on display. On July 10 from 11:30 to 3PM we will be throwing an opening party with wine tastings included so please come by.

Clearview Vineyard
35 Clearview Lane
Warwick, NY 10990
Ph: 845 651-2838
Clearview Vineyards

Thanks to vintners Frank and Karen Graessle for hosting.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a South African word which according to Wikipedia is often translated as “human kindness”. Within the last few months, I have heard of this word and concept a few times. It appears to me that the idea is gaining a badly needed foothold in our consciousness. Last week I heard a piece of a story on NPR about a South African who grew up on a game preserve and watched the wild animals. Specifically, he was fascinated by a crippled elephant that was assisted by all of the other elephants to survive. More and more we hear stories and see videos of animals helping each other; the monkey that revived an electric shocked monkey friend on an Indian train track, the goat that led a blind horse through a forest to the best pasture, a dog that wrapped its front legs around a companion that was hit by a car and dragged it across five lanes to safety somewhere in South America. It brings tears to my eyes to think that “human kindness” can also be seen in “animal kindness” it is our basic nature born of our core being.

Here is the thing. We have been sold a bill of goods that is not true. Darwinism is not the only and last gasp way of being. “Survival of the fittest” is not the best way to live and survive, we all want to thrive not just survive. The idea that survival is a struggle and that we need to compete with each other to win has spawned a brutal winner takes all mentality. Cooperation is really how we survive and thrive but to truly cooperate we must respect each other in our sameness as does the elephant and in our difference as does the goat and the horse.

I was moved this morning when I saw hundreds of people lined up in the hot Florida sun waiting to give blood after this last terrible mass shooting. Those people live the Ubuntu philosophy. Deep inside, I believe, we all feel a profound need to help, to be useful, to care and to share our love. I know I do. The tools out of our societal dis-ease are in the idea of Ubuntu. I am determined to embrace it.

Back on Board

This is going to be a tough post, I’ll say it right off the starting gate. I know it’s been a long time since I posted. I’ve been focusing on finishing and publishing my first novel, “Gabriel’s Flight”. I love the book, it’s been great fun but when will it be good enough, when will it be done. I keep writing and rewriting, trying to get an agent and rewriting again.

It’s been a rough spiral down when it should only be an upward swing. The book is about flying, ascension and touching the sky. Unfortunately, I indulged in a few weeks with the dark night of the soul. I allowed myself to doubt and that led to an awful sense of failure before I even got anywhere. It’s the bugaboo of my life and possibly why I chose the subject, “Heaven is Here” to blog about. I am so afraid of not being good enough, of failing that I really beat myself up and I end up stymied or crippled. A few weeks ago I was a bloody mess. Thank God for Mastering Alchemy and SYDA yoga; practicing self-awareness gave me the awareness, finally, that I was being very indulgent and I am crawling back out of the mire.

Part of the crawl back is to renew my dedication to practicing what works and keeping good company is so important as I have heard from the master. This space is good company, you are good company. I haven’t looked here for a while and I see there are over 650 followers and people looking at the blog every day. Thank you, I won’t let you down again. I hope that you find upliftment here. I promise you there will be more to come.